I made this in my first term at Plymouth College of Art, where we spent
two weeks in each workshop on an assignment of "wear/worn".

In the small metal workshop it was suggested we study the way clothes were made, and I focused on zips and the way the zip teeth sometimes look like busts of people, with the fastener bringing them together and pulling them apart.

I made the fastener out of brass sheet. Soldering the bits together was quite challenging!

I made the ceramic fleece by extruding clay through a garlic press and attaching it to a thin sheet of clay using slip. It was very fragile until I glazed it. Now it's very strong (and hard to the touch, which startles people).

I "carved" the zip teeth out of leather hard clay and found a glaze that made them look brassy.

Assembling all of these bits was tricky. I glued the teeth to the
fleece and then propped it all up face down in the right position on top
of clay covered with a polythene. I then attached it to the glass
stand with bolts threaded through little brass plates that I glued to
the back of the fleece. It's surprisingly rigid.